Guatemala’s weak institutions have been unable to contain drug traffickers, causing marked erosion in the authority and legitimacy of the state.

In numerous Latin American countries, organized crime and violence are corroding governance and imperiling democratic legitimacy. This phenomenon is most severe in Guatemala, which is currently experiencing a full-blown crisis of the democratic state. An unholy trinity of criminal elements—international drug traffickers, domestically based organized crime syndicates, and youth gangs—have dramatically expanded their operations since the 1990s, and are effectively waging a form of irregular warfare against government institutions.

An open war is going on in Jamaica over the detention of a kingpin drug dealer; this is an example of what may soon happen in Central America.

An article by Joaquín Villalobos in Elpais.com signals Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala as the countries of the isthmus most affected by drug trafficking, a black market activity which leads to violence and corruption, and may eventually transform a country into a ‘failed state’